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eliotfyffe's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I came to this book full of cognitive dissonance about how I fit into the feminist movement. I knew that feminism is the path to everyone's liberation- men and women alike, but I couldn't recognize how to define myself outside of patriarchy without hating myself and my personal male-ness. This book taught me to view patriarchy as the enemy, not necessarily men. She argues, like plenty of her peers, that patriarchy was co-constructed and is perpetuated by both men and women, despite men being rewarded with power by this system. She urges us to abandon the view that the ability to violently dominate others is privilege, but rather define it as the ability to love and be loved. 100/10 best thing to ever happen to me.
p.s. there is so much wisdom sprinkled in that has nothing to do with gender dynamics too- this book helped me move away from simultaneous grandiosity and self-deprecation (both self-centered outlooks), embrace radical empathy in all contexts, and gain a greater understanding of intersectionality and our current domination ethic
p.p.s. One major caveat to this book, which everyone that I've spoken to has agreed on, is that much like many leftist like to reduce things entirely to class, hooks seems to explain every social phenomena through gender. It could be me misinterpreting her examples when they're supposed to be prototypical, but that's how most people seem to interpret her writing nonetheless. Her thoughts on religion were also somewhat confusing and seemingly contradictory.
p.s. there is so much wisdom sprinkled in that has nothing to do with gender dynamics too- this book helped me move away from simultaneous grandiosity and self-deprecation (both self-centered outlooks), embrace radical empathy in all contexts, and gain a greater understanding of intersectionality and our current domination ethic
p.p.s. One major caveat to this book, which everyone that I've spoken to has agreed on, is that much like many leftist like to reduce things entirely to class, hooks seems to explain every social phenomena through gender. It could be me misinterpreting her examples when they're supposed to be prototypical, but that's how most people seem to interpret her writing nonetheless. Her thoughts on religion were also somewhat confusing and seemingly contradictory.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment
deyonce54's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
tmchopra's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis
applesodaperson's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
3.0
This was a pretty underwhelming book honestly. Overall, the analysis felt a bit surface level. It also felt extremely repetitive, and used the same few key words about a million times, which got very grating after a while. It also felt like quite a large part of the commentary was only coming from personal experiences, rather than empirical data. Although to be fair this wasn't the case 100% of the time. This book also felt too long, because I was definitely feeling bored by the end, and wanting it to end and be over. And this is saying a lot because this book really is not very long in the first place.
Even though I did not really enjoy this book overall, I still do think it made a lot of good points, and brought attention to a lot of good topics. I actually would recommend this book to people who read Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates. That book is incredible, but it does leave the reader feeling very down and with a lot of negative amotions due to the heavy subject matter. But this book kind of feels like the next step after Men Who Hate Women, because it gives some actionable steps of what men can do and think about to improve emotional intelligence, which in turn should lessen the misogyny and woman hating common among incels.
One thing I really didn't like though was the part in this book about religion. It felt completely based on personal opinions. Because actually a lot of the emotional intelligence problems that come from the patriarchy are heavily endorsed and taught by the biggest religions (ex. wives submitting to their husbands). This is why I do not think this topic has a place in a book like this.
Listened to on Libby.
Even though I did not really enjoy this book overall, I still do think it made a lot of good points, and brought attention to a lot of good topics. I actually would recommend this book to people who read Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates. That book is incredible, but it does leave the reader feeling very down and with a lot of negative amotions due to the heavy subject matter. But this book kind of feels like the next step after Men Who Hate Women, because it gives some actionable steps of what men can do and think about to improve emotional intelligence, which in turn should lessen the misogyny and woman hating common among incels.
One thing I really didn't like though was the part in this book about religion. It felt completely based on personal opinions. Because actually a lot of the emotional intelligence problems that come from the patriarchy are heavily endorsed and taught by the biggest religions (ex. wives submitting to their husbands). This is why I do not think this topic has a place in a book like this.
Listened to on Libby.
Content Warnings
Minor: Misogyny and Sexual assault
bookdragon137's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
A great work. An antidote to the disillusionment with men it’s easy to feel when faced with the rising misogyny in the world today.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Misogyny
bashsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
The Will To Change is an important introduction to the place of men in feminist and gender equity movements. hooks' sympathy for the male experience under patriarchy is critical to the fight against it, as the obvious statement that men suffer under rigid and chaffing expectations and that men need support is a radical one in some supposedly feminist spaces. Additionally, hooks' writing style is very accessible; she expounds on complex topics in plain and straightforward language, which is a breath of fresh air when it comes to reading theory. That said, not all of her ideas still resonate (as this came out in 2004) - specifically, her conceptualization of gender and sexuality is a little too binary for my tastes, but overall, it was a good read, and extremely worthwhile.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Racism, Sexual violence, and Classism
notsosecrethistory's review
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and War
theolivetree's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
itszosia's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Grief, War, and Classism